Three More Wands

A few weeks ago, I got back into making a few wands on the lathe. They turned out pretty good, and I was happy that I finally got to use some of the wood that I had been drying. I wanted to capitalize on that momentum, so I cranked out a few more.

The smallest one is made from "Tree of Heaven" (Ailanthus). It is basically considered a "junk" wood, because it has wide growth rings, contains a lot of water, and cracks and twists horribly when drying. It's also kind of a boring ugly color. Not good for much from a woodworking standpoint. But I have a bunch of it and I was eager to see how it turned. For smaller items like this, it's not too bad. Certainly usable, if not particularly pretty.

The middle one is more of that elm I worked with the other week. These were some of the first boards I slabbed and dried. It doesn't have a particularly interesting grain pattern, but it has a nice warm color and it turns well.

The bottom one is a piece of recycled oak. I'm not really thrilled with the way the handle turned out, but someone might like it.

 I think I need to start doing some different designs. I feel like I'm in a rut. My wands are starting to all look the same.